Governador Valadares, city in southeastern Brazil, in Minas Gerais State. Located at the great bend of the Doce River and at the head of navigation, the city is a major transportation center on the Rio de Janeiro-Salvador highway and on the rail line between Belo Horizonte and Vitória. The area has gold and mica mines, and grain is grown. Until 1939 the name of the city was Figueira. Population (1993) 236,369.
